Futuristic ABC's
by TurnThePaige
Summary: Molly O'Brien tells her parents what she learned today. Do you remember the songs they had you sing in kindergarten to learn and remember the alphabet? Well, it's different in the future!
1. The Song

**Hey, HEY! I don't know how exactly I came up with this, but here it is! I thought it was a cute idea. Read and review, buddies! Hope you like it! **

"Oh, sorry I'm late, honey," Miles apologized as he entered the O'Brien family quarters. As he came in, tired from working, he looked at his family. Keiko sat at the table with Molly on one side of her and Yoshi in a high chair on the other side. "I had to realign the sensor array before I could get away." He walked over to his wife and gave her a light kiss on the lips.

"Daddy!" Molly said excitedly.

"Hi, sweetie," Miles said, kneeling beside her chair. He kissed the top of her head and stood to walk to his seat across from Keiko. "How was your day?"

"Good," Molly answered, shrugging.

Keiko reached to feed Yoshi another bite of baby mush. "Why don't you tell Daddy what you learned today?" she suggested.

"Okay!" Molly agreed enthusiastically. "I learned the alphabet song," she said proudly.

"That's great," Miles said. "Does it go, 'A, B, C, D, E, F, G. . .'"

Molly looked confused. "No," she said. "I learned a different one."

"Well, then," Miles said, "let's hear it!"

"A is for Andorian, B is for Bajoran," she recited, "C is for Cardassian, D for Deep Space Nine, E is for El-Aurian, F is for Ferengi, G is for Gallamite, H is for Humanoid, I is for Iconian, J is for Jem'Hadar, K is for Klingon, L is for Lurian, M is for Molly, N is for Nausicaan, O is for Occupation, P is for Prophets, Q is for Q, R is for Romulan, S is for Starfleet, T is for Trill, U is for Ullian, V is for Vorta, W is for Wadi, X is for Xepolite, Y is for Yridian, and Z is for Zakdorn! Now I know my alphabet, and some species to go with that."

Miles was blown away. "How do you know what an Iconian is, or a Ullian, or a Xepolite, or an Andorian, or a Zakdorn, or an El-Aurian, or a Yridian?"

Molly just shrugged.

"Why did you have Molly in there?" he asked.

"Mrs. Graff said that we could put our name in the song instead of the one that was there before," Molly explained.

"What was there before?" Miles asked.

Molly shrugged again. "I don't remember."

"Wasn't that so nice, honey?" Keiko hinted toward her husband.

"Oh, yes," Miles agreed. "That was wonderful, sweetie. Good job." He smiled warmly at his daughter, who grinned proudly back and took a big bite.

Later that night, after they had put the two children to bed, Miles and Keiko stayed up. Keiko was trying to figure out how to hinder the rapid growth of a new plant species in the Dahkur Province that was taking up more than its share land. Miles was looking at a schematic of a new kind of warp core that might work for the _Defiant_.

Miles shook his head and set the padd down on the coffee table. He didn't need to worry about this right now. Keiko followed suit.

"Do you remember those kinds of songs they made us sing when we were in kindergarten?" Keiko asked, staring into space as if trying to remember the words.

"What are you - - oh, Molly's song, right," Miles said. "Vaguely, I guess. They were sure different, huh?"

"Of course they were!" Keiko said, breaking out of her reverie to sigh. "A lot has changed since then."

"I still don't understand how she could know what all those alien species were," Miles said, thinking.

"Well, considering who her father is," Keiko responded, "and where she lives, I'd say it's pretty clear."

"Yeah, you're right," Miles admitted. "I mean, she's probably seen more than just those on Deep Space Nine. Morn's a Lurian, Garak's a Cardassian, Quark's a Ferengi, Boday is a Gallamite, and Dax is a Trill. It's probably different _because _she lives on DS9, too. Why else would it have Prophets and Occupation and Bajoran and even Deep Space Nine itself in the song?"

Keiko was quiet for a moment, staring thoughtfully at Miles. Then she replied, "It's just the alphabet, Miles. You may be overthinking this - - just a little bit."

**Now that I think about it, this isn't so interesting. Oh well! I'll probably post it anyway. Now, if you don't know what any of these alien species is, just Google "star trek aliens" and click the first link (Star Trek Alien Species). It's a great site, and it has tons of species I didn't even know about or had forgotten existed! There are even pictures, for a lot of them. Anyways...**

**\ \\// "Live long and prosper." **


	2. The Sequel

**On a dare, I am writing this sequel to my ABC story. It might be published, if it turns out well, and if not, then tough! Well, here it goes! Hope you like it!**

Days later, Miles was working with Rom on the new warp core on the _Defiant_. It was experiencing difficulties, and Sisko wanted it ready to go in four hours. They worked quietly, most of the time, except to ask for a tool.

Rom broke the near-silence by saying, "Chief?" out of the blue.

"Hmm?" Miles said to let Rom know that he had his attention.

"What are you humming?" Rom inquired.

"What?" Miles asked.

"You've been humming a tune I don't know this whole time," Rom explained. "I just wanted to know what it was."

Miles was quiet. He hadn't realized it, but he had been humming Molly's new alphabet song all along.

"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine," Rom said quickly. "But don't stop. I like it."

They both went back to work. Miles started humming again, consciously this time, thinking the words in his head. Whenever he got to M, he couldn't help but wonder what it was supposed to be. Then he would make himself realize it didn't matter and keep working.

Throughout the week, Miles made sure no one was around when he hummed the song, if he did. Sometimes, he just sang the words in his head. Why it was stuck, he just couldn't figure out. Why should a child's song matter so much? It shouldn't, but it did.

And what was that M? When he finally couldn't take it anymore, Miles thought about asking the teacher. _No, that would be silly,_ he thought. _It doesn't matter, and what would the teacher think of him? _The other part of his brain argued, _Who cares what other people think? This is going to tear you apart if you don't figure it out. It's called curiosity! You're only human._ The other side of the brain succumbed to the reasoning of the other side, and he went to the classroom after duty that day.

"Mrs. Graff?" Miles said uneasily as he entered the classroom.

"That's me," said a young lady hunched over her desk at the end of the room. She looked up, and Miles saw she was Bajoran. She smiled at him and stood. "Oh, Mr. O'Brien, please come in. Have a seat." She gestured to a chair across from her and sat down again after he had. "I love your daughter. She's wonderful."

"Oh, good," Miles said, smiling. "She takes after her mother," he added, and they both laughed.

"So, what brings you here, Mr. O'Brien?" Mrs. Graff asked.

"Well, it's a bit silly actually," Miles admitted. "The other day, Molly came home with an alphabet song I was unfamiliar with, and. . ." he stopped, realizing just how dumb it really was. "Never mind, it doesn't - -"

"And you want to know what the M stood for originally," Mrs. Graff finished for him. She smiled at his confused face. "It's Meridian, the species that the _Defiant _came across that would shift from corporeal to incorporeal form along with their planet. You remember them, of course," she said.

"Well, yes, but how did you know. . ." Miles asked, trailing off.

Mrs. Graff gave him a huge grin and said, "You're not the first to ask."

**So, how was that for a dare? I usually don't take dares, but you know... I couldn't refuse this one! Anyways, why not add the answer to my third riddle? I you haven't already, go read it and TRY to figure it out before continuing. The answer is, "I shall be eaten by lions." That way, if it is true, he's tossed off a cliff, making it false. Then he'd have to be eaten, making it true. And so on and so forth. The only logical choice is to let him go!**


End file.
